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A SCOTTISH Labour councillor has accused party leadership contender Joe Fagan of presiding over “severe bullying” during his time as Labour group leader on South Lanarkshire Council.
In a bombshell LinkedIn post, East Kilbride councillor Monique Equi also accused her former boss of “political cronyism”.
Fagan led the Labour group on South Lanarkshire Council from 2018, becoming council leader from May 2022 until stepping down this year after being elected as an MSP.
He is now thought to be one of the two frontrunners – alongside North East Scotland MSP Michael Marra – in the race to succeed Anas Sarwar as Scottish Labour leader.
Glasgow MSP Monica Lennon is also attempting to make the ballot – although reports suggest she may struggle to achieve the required numbers to be nominated.
But Fagan’s campaign has now been rocked by allegations from his former council colleague.
In the LinkedIn post, Equi said she not only faced “severe bullying” but also “hostility in the workplace” as well as a “political system that closed ranks to protect those in power”.
The East Kilbride councillor added: “When our own party rules and leadership lag behind the statutory standards we champion for the rest of the UK, it is women in public life who pay the price."
Much of the criticism levied against Fagan, and Scottish Labour more widely, centred around when Equi was investigated by the council’s standards committee for disclosing confidential information on the potential closure of leisure facilities in 2021.
She was eventually pulled up by the ethics watchdog in August 2023, who said her actions had been motivated partly by “political gain”.
Speaking about the investigation and how it was handled, Equi defended herself and said that neither Fagan nor the-then Scottish Labour general secretary James Kelly “offered to help or speak up” for her.
“Both men had the power to clear my name with the Standards Commission and the press. Instead, they stayed silent, hoping I would take the fall to protect their own positions,” she said.
“This was a clear example of political cronyism in action, a culture where protection of the internal network comes before truth, accountability, or the duty of care owed to candidates.”
Not mentioned in her post was that Fagan, in June 2023, was also suspended for two months for disclosing confidential information to the press in a similar breach – with the ruling again saying it was motivated "at least in part" by political gain.
We previously reported on how Fagan’s Wikipedia page was quietly edited to downplay this row just before he announced his leadership campaign.
A Scottish Labour spokesperson said: "Bullying is not tolerated in Scottish Labour and all complaints are investigated in line with our rules and procedures."
Fagan has been approached for comment.
